Epic of gilgamesh: Did you mean...?

Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess associated with primordial chaos and the salt sea best known from the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish. In all versions of the myth, following the original, Tiamat always symbolizes the forces of chaos, which...

In the fourth part of his lecture, Dr. Neiman explains that writing is invented in the Mesopotamian region of Sumer. He describes that once a writing style is developed, literature flourishes. He then describes the first (probably) literary...

Ereshkigal (also known as Irkalla and Allatu) is the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead who rules the underworld. Her name translates as 'Queen of the Great Below' or 'Lady of the Great Place.' She was responsible for both keeping the dead within...

Mesopotamia is the ancient Greek name (meaning “the land between two rivers”, the Tigris and Euphrates) for the region corresponding to modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria, and Turkey. It is considered the “cradle of civilization” for...

An illustration of a tablet, discovered in 2015 CE, describing a portion of the Gilgamesh epic. CUNES 48-07-173. (Illustration by Prof. Andrew George. Used with permission)

A tablet, discovered in 2015 CE, with a passage from the Gilgamesh epic. CUNES 48-07-173. (Photographs by Prof. David I. Owen, Rosen Collection, Cornell University. Used with permission)

The Sumerian Flood Story (also known as the Eridu Genesis, The Flood Story, Sumerian Creation Myth, Sumerian Deluge Myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian text relating the tale of the Great Flood which would appear in later works such as the Atrahasis...

This stone piece is carved with a scene depicting Gilgamesh wrestling two bulls. From the great temple at Tell Agrab, Diyala Valley, Iraq. Early Dynastic period, 2600-2370 BCE. On display at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Republic of Iraq.

Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian...

Writing is the physical manifestation of a spoken language. It is thought that human beings developed language c. 35,000 BCE as evidenced by cave paintings from the period of the Cro-Magnon Man (c. 50,000-30,000 BCE) which appear to express...